Soccer: Young Americans provide example of their potential

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Gyasi Bardes of the U.S. (R) fails to score as his team mates Aron Johannsson (C) and Michael Bradley look on during their friendly soccer match against the Netherlands at the Amsterdam Arena in Amsterdam, the Netherlands June 5, 2015. REUTERS/Michael Kooren

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A dramatic come from behind win for the United States in their friendly international against the Netherlands would serve as a lesson of the team’s potential to its many young members, coach Jurgen Klinsmann said.

“We need to learn to turn games around, to take games like knockout games. We have to have that mindset that we can turn things around,” said Klinsmann after the Americans came from 3-1 down to win 4-3 in Amsterdam on Friday in an impressive display of swift counter-attack football.

“For all these youngsters, this is what they need to smell. This is what they need to see. They need to go to that tempo.” The U.S. now move onto another prestige friendly, against Germany in Cologne on Wednesday, as they prepare for the Concacaf Gold Cup, which they host next month.

“It’s a huge learning curve when you play teams like Holland, you can only benefit from that. It doesn’t matter what the result is,” he told reporters as the Americans beat the Dutch for the first time after losing all four previous internationals between the two countries.

His team fought back to win an exciting friendly thanks to goals by substitutes Danny Williams and Bobby Wood in the final two minutes at the Amsterdam Arena.

“Obviously it’s a good feeling now that we are growing. We all know that the Gold Cup is a completely different ballgame for us,” the former Germany striker said.

“When you come to Europe it’s a far more open game because they go at you. The first four to five games in the Gold Cup, they will play very defensively, and we will need to find other ways to score goals.”